How to express how great this book is? I'm having to restrain myself. My awful snobbery was in full effect before I started it; the fact he's written for the achingly hip McSweeny's, the fact that his name sounds more like a modern movie star's, the fact that the book's being mentioned everywhere amongst what I suppose are literary tastemakers. It's actually so good that I lost the urge to hate it within about three lines. The simplest way to describe it would be a cross between David Foster Wallace and Bret Easton Ellis. That's as crude as all such comparisons, but it gives some idea of the range across unflinching brutality and warm, everyday compassion that Wells Tower covers.
One of the first things I noticed and enjoyed was the exactitude of language. It's always the perfect word that is used in an image or description. A character pours a 'long grey dose' of sunflower seeds into his mouth, in one example. I evangelically pressed my copy of the book on Scuz as soon as I got home last night, so I can't quote the other lines I wanted to for fear of getting them wrong. Trust me, he's a very good writer, and seems to quietly revel in language.
Anyway, it's just excellent. Behind it all there's a sort of unobtrusive morality that you can take or leave (hence DFW comparison) and often there's a really shocking nastiness to the characters (hence BEE,) and it's hard to shock, these days. One character recalls his contrarian, bullying father - a lawyer - telling him as a child to 'fight to the death if a man tries to put you into his car. You're probably dead either way, and it's better to check out before they get creative on you.'
My snobbery has been well and truly confounded, once again. One day I'll learn.
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